More like a shed, the empty beach house is being sold today for £40,000
Castle for half a cent
Well-preserved ancient castles are considered exclusive real estate and do not often appear in agency databases. Wealthy people sell such properties either to make a profit on the deal or because they find themselves in a difficult financial situation. For example, last year the famous American actor Nicolas Cage, who, according to him, lost about $20 million and fell into debt due to his manager's negligence, sold a castle in Bavaria. Cage bought the 17th-century castle with 28 rooms and a 160-hectare plot for $2.2 million. The sale price of the property is unknown.
The nine nuns of the Benedictine Order have different problems – they found it inconvenient to live in Rempstone Hall, located in the English county of Leicestershire. The total area of the castle is 1,950 square meters. Rempstone Hall has 22 bedrooms. On the adjacent plot of 8.9 hectares there are several small houses, outbuildings, a chapel and a prayer room.
As Sister Maria Luke told The Daily Telegraph, the castle became too big for the nuns. In addition, the cells are not sufficiently separated from the tourist areas. For this reason, the nuns decided to move to a more modern one-story building that is being built nearby, she noted. The sisters put the castle up for sale, pricing it at no less than £2.5 million. If the deal goes through, the nuns will be able to make a good profit, because in 1979 the property cost them only £110,000.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the Hungarian city of Gyula, located 200 kilometers from Budapest, are selling the former castle of the Almásy family. The castle with a park covering a total area of 13,000 square meters was built in 1725 and has been vacant for several decades. The historic property is part of a health and tourism complex known for its healing springs. According to the British publication Metro, the asking price is just one forint ($0.0053). No buyer has been found yet, which is not surprising, since the municipality is willing to part with one of the local attractions only if the new owner invests $1.627 million in the restoration of the building.
Narrow market
Private houses can also be exclusive. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that they be located in elite areas and have luxurious renovations, antique furniture, and expensive appliances. You can also make money on minimalism.
As the Tne Guardian reported, the narrowest house in the city was put on the market in New York at the beginning of the year. A buyer quickly appeared, paying $2.1 million for the Manhattan property. Meanwhile, the width of the house located in the Greenwich Village area is only 2.9 meters, and the depth is 9.1 meters. Built in 1873, the building filled a passage between neighboring houses that led to the backyard.
According to The Daily Mail, a similar offer appeared on the London housing market at the end of last year. One of the narrowest houses in the UK, with a width of just 1.6 meters, was put up for sale for £550,000. The three-story building with an area of 93 square meters contains a hallway with a library, two bedrooms, a dining room, a living room, and a kitchen. Behind the house there is a courtyard with a barbecue area.
Only free is cheaper
You can attract a client not only with an unconventional offer, but also with a low price. That is exactly what one British agency did, announcing an auction for the sale of an apartment with a starting price of just £1,000. According to the company, this is the cheapest offer on the market. Such a low price is explained by the fact that the two-bedroom apartment for sale in the center of the former mining town of Port Stanley is in terrible condition: the ceiling and walls between rooms have partially collapsed, the floor and walls are rotten. In addition, the apartment has no furniture, water supply, or electricity.
The condition of the property does not bother the realtors. Agents claim that even if the new owner has to invest £10,000 in repairs, he will then be able to resell the property at a profit.
A place in the sun and on the water
The list of unusual offers on the British real estate market this year has been supplemented by a dilapidated hut on the coast of the North Sea, in the prestigious location of Gun Hill. The beach house, sold for £40,000 and more like a shed, has been vacant for many years. The hut, measuring 1.5 by 2 meters, has no front door, no gas, no electricity, broken windows, and a crooked roof. In essence, the buyer will receive ownership of a small plot of land for building a new house.
Employees of the real estate company claim that this is a very profitable offer, since small beach houses in Gun Hill that are in perfect condition are in high demand and sell for £100,000.
According to the real estate agency Foxtons, clients show no less interest in so-called "floating homes" (a small vessel moored on the embankment and adapted for permanent residence). The most expensive such home in the world, located on the River Thames, was recently put up for sale for £1 million.
The vessel has a total living area of 130 square meters, including three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a study, a utility room, and a swimming pool. The "house" is moored near Albert Bridge, in the elite area of Chelsea.
It didn't come to the carp
In recent months, there has been one less interesting offer on the market. In this case, it's not about the property itself, but about the way it is sold. From February 1, 2009 to February of this year, British insurance agent Dave Mackey held a lottery, the main prize of which was his mansion in Lancashire worth £675,000.
The essence of the contest was as follows: on a special website, anyone who paid £50 had to solve a Japanese Sudoku puzzle. If successful, the person became a contender for the win. In the second stage, the owner of the house was to be chosen with the help of a decorative carp. It was assumed that a touch panel would be installed in a small pond near the house, and by touching it, the fish would determine the winner.
However, it was not possible to sell the mansion in such an original way, because Mackey did not collect the minimum number of applications required by the contest conditions (12 thousand). Now the amount collected by Mackey, minus the money spent on the advertising campaign and legal services, will be raffled among the lottery participants, but without the carp's involvement.
Sergey NIKOLAEV.
Lenta.ru